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Assembly of First Nations National Chief Calls for Immediate Action on Senate Report on Housing and Infrastructure: Meets with Senate Committee Chair to Discuss Next Steps

(Ottawa, ON) – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde today met with the Senator Dennis Patterson, Chair of the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, to discuss follow-up on the Committee’s recently released report On-Reserve Housing and Infrastructure: Recommendations for Change. The report was released on June 23 and identifies the critical state of housing and infrastructure needs of First Nations in Canada.

“My discussion with Senate Committee Chair Dennis Patterson was very positive and we agreed to work together to push forward the recommendations in the report,” said National Chief Bellegarde. “The Senate Committee’s report reveals that the federal government is fully aware that current funding is not meeting existing needs and a key reason is the 2% cap on First Nations funding that has been in place for almost 20 years. We must remove the 2% cap and provide the additional resources needed to fill the backlog in housing needs created by the cap. We cannot continue to let First Nations children suffer in these conditions. The federal government must work with First Nations to determine the best options and not simply re-tool existing approaches to programming and funding. There is much work to do but I am encouraged by the Senate Committee’s interest in further engagement with the AFN’s Chiefs Committee on Housing and Infrastructure.”

Many of the recommendations in the Senate report are not new and the report is one of many others that identify the urgent need for Canada to work with First Nations to develop a comprehensive strategy to close the gap in living conditions between First Nations and others in Canada.

While welcoming, the Committee’s recommendation for the removal the 2% cap in the next federal budget, the Assembly of First Nations also maintains that removal of the 2% cap must be followed by a discussion on ways to fill the service gaps created over the last 18 years and new fiscal arrangements.

National Chief Bellegarde added: “All Canadians have a right to shelter, clean drinking water and secure communities. The federal government needs to work directly with First Nations on a new approach now.”